be recognition of the oil and gas industry’s economic and social contribution. Te oil and gas industry can continue to make a major contribution to secure energy supplies,” he said. But the Scottish Government is determined


to bring the two potentially conflicting interests together ‘for the greater good’. Last month, First Minister Alex Salmond welcomed more than 30 senior energy industry leaders to Aberdeen as they gathered for a summit to discuss collaboration between the sectors to help accelerate Scotland’s transition to a low carbon economy. Sir Ian Wood, founder and chair of the Wood Group, and Ian Marchant, chief executive of Scottish and Southern Energy, co-chaired the summit. It brought together representatives of many leading energy companies including Scottish Power, Subsea 7, Technip, Dong Energy and Vattenfall and was organised by Scottish Enterprise. “Scotland already, per head of population,


has ten-times the renewable energy of England but as the industry moves offshore we have even more potential,” said Salmond. “Scotland is well-positioned to become the green powerhouse of Europe, with an estimated quarter of the continent’s potential wind and tidal energy capacity and a tenth of its wave resource. “Tis summit has brought together leaders


in our oil & gas and renewable energy sectors with the aim of ensuring that Scotland capitalises on decades of expertise in offshore oil and gas engineering as we forge a low carbon future. Tis will give Scotland a strong competitive advantage when it comes to securing investment opportunities in the rapidly growing green energy industry. “Offshore wind offers massive economic


rewards to Scotland with over £100bn of investment planned across the UK over the next ten years. Scotland has a long- established reputation for excellence in oil & gas exploration and production offshore and is now a key location for inward investment for those pioneering clean energy technologies. “Te Scottish Government is committed


to doing all we can to support Scotland’s energy industry and to ensure we enjoy the economic benefits of our vast natural offshore and onshore resources. Te oil & gas sector makes a substantial contribution to our economy and this summit provides a valuable opportunity to drive forward greater collaboration between the energy industries to deliver sustainable economic growth for Scotland.” Adrian Gillespie, senior director of Energy


at Scottish Enterprise said: “We have reached an important point in the development of Scotland’s offshore wind industry. In


less than five years time we will begin to see construction of some of the world’s most ambitious offshore wind farms in Scottish waters. We are attracting significant investment from global players such as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Iberdrola as well as major investment from Scottish companies such as BiFab and SSE. “We know that developers are already building their supply chains as it is key to their project profitability, so we must act quickly to utilise our vast offshore expertise at all stages of project planning and implementation. Tis summit will hopefully mark a step change in securing an effective and efficient supply chain based on our unrivalled offshore experience from our world leading oil and gas sector.” Niall Stuart Chief Executive of Scottish


Renewables added: “Offshore renewables present a massive opportunity for the engineering industry that has grown up around our oil and gas sector, and likewise, the expertise amassed over decades of exploration and production will be invaluable in driving down costs, ensuring healthy and safe working practices and in building the legal and financial frameworks to underpin development. Synergies are building up between the two industries, with many oil and gas firms now setting up renewable energy divisions to focus on this new market, but this summit will play a key part in accelerating the process of joint working between the two sectors.” Te ambition of the offshore wind industry is clear; according to Chris Westra, general manager of WE@Sea, a research and development consortium based in the Netherlands, the industry is destined to move further into the North Sea. “Te industry began in shallow water in Denmark and the Netherlands, but now it is moving further out to sea. Tat in itself poses major technical challenges in terms of the size, technology and support structures required. As we move offshore there may be a need for special islands in the sea for building and maintaining wind farms, where we can build and assemble machines and then take them to foundations close by.” Te consortium’s vision of the future


includes the construction of new harbours to facilitate the large-scale implementation of offshore wind energy at the North Sea; cooperation between the Netherlands, Belgium, the UK and Denmark to find strategic sites at the North Sea to build artificial islands for offshore wind power; and the development of a European offshore electrical grid. Collaboration between potentially competing industries is not just a Scottish issue, but pan-European.


IN BRIEF


More powers needed Scotland needs to secure more powers from Westminster to increase the nation’s economic growth, the First Minister’s economic advisers have said. The Council of Economic Advisers said the increased fiscal powers recommended by the Calman Commission, which reviewed the first ten years of devolution and form the basis of the Scotland Bill, do not go far enough to allow Scotland to determine its own economic destiny.


Scotland’s new network KILTR, a social network for the 40m Scots worldwide, was launched last month. The brainchild of Scots businessmen Brian Hughes Halferty and Stewart Fraser, it aims to bring together business professionals of Scottish descent around the world. They say it will tap into the vast knowledge, experience and opportunity offered by the Scottish diaspora. There are seven times as many people of Scots descent around the world than actually live in Scotland.


RBS report go-ahead The City regulator has bowed to pressure and said it hoped to reveal details of its inquiry into the collapse of Royal Bank of Scotland by the end of March. In a letter to the Treasury Select Committee, Financial Services Authority (FSA) chairman Lord Adair Turner said the watchdog would seek the necessary permission from RBS to make public key findings, although he said it would not be a “blow-by-blow account”. The decision follows calls for the FSA to remove the secrecy surrounding its RBS probe.


New SDI chief


A new chief executive of Scottish Development International (SDI) has been appointed. Anne MacColl, previously SDI’s operations director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, will promote Scotland overseas and help Scottish businesses to enter international markets. Finance Secretary John Swinney said: “Anne MacColl has an impressive track record in representing Scotland overseas.” Swinney said that in the last year, SDI had helped generate more than £500m of inward investment and supported more than 900 Scottish companies to internationalise.


Bridge ‘essential’ Construction of the new Forth road bridge will get under way this year, under plans approved by MSPs. The Scottish Parliament passed new legislation needed to build the £2.3bn crossing, due for completion by 2016. Ministers said the condition of the existing bridge, linking Edinburgh and Fife, was deteriorating. The new bridge is “absolutely vital to ensure Scotland’s economic wellbeing,” said transport minister Keith Brown.


January 2011 Holyrood 61


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80